Simple Living

October 17, 2011

Good morning! Our schedule is taking us in an unexpected direction this morning so I'm not able to finish my weekly check-in. I'll be back here tomorrow to share how the week went. Have a wonderful day!

October 10, 2011

It's been a tasty, productive week here in my kitchen. This really is the perfect time of year for me to attempt a challenge like this; autumn is when I feel most creative and industrious. Today I'll try and recap a little of that for you here. Please join in the comments to share how things are going in your kitchen!

It took no time at all once I put a little challenge on myself to get in gear and make some changes. I had a great week in my kitchen!

The most important thing I did to keep on track this week was to stay one or two steps ahead of things in my kitchen. This isn't too far off from my normal practice, but I made a concerted effort to not stray from the plan, organization-wise. Keeping our next meal in the front of my mind helped me to mentally organize what I need to take care of.

For instance (it's Saturday evening right now), after I'm done writing this I need to soak two varieties of beans for tomorrows dinner. I'm also noting that we're all set on almond milk for another day so I don't need to worry about that. Some venison sausage needs to be taken out of the freezer too, it will become (along with those soaked beans) an incredibly good soup for tomorrow's dinner. And there will be plenty leftover for to freeze two quarts. I'll prepare the soup in the morning before we head out hiking and visiting with Emily's girlfriends.

{Bean, Sausage and Kale soup - recipe next week}

I'm also thinking about breakfast tomorrow - it's a toss up between baked apple crisp with nut cream topping or oatmeal sundaes (a big pot of steel cut oats on the table with various fruits, nuts, sweeteners, toppings, etc. to 'build your own sundae'). I know we've got all we need for either of those and will be able to whip up one or the other no problem come morning.

Planning is key to stretching our grocery budget. And this week I noted that beans and greens were the best bet for my money most days of the week.

We appreciate beans for their nutritional density and low expense. In addition, I'm loving the beauty of head lettuce this week. We eat a lot of vegetables and local head lettuce is in abundance still. At our co-op it is about $2.00 a piece right now, and they are huge! It's such a good value! Between having huge salads for lunch (with a hefty scoop of beans or some other hearty protein such as a broken up brown rice pattie), and salad with our dinner, a $2.00 a day investment for the three of us has been an easy way to ensure plenty of fresh food.

There are plenty of other fruits and veggies happening, but for some reason the ease and value of head lettuce has stood out this week, and is something I wanted to share with you.

I shop at the beginnig of the week, according to the calendar I've got two days left to shop for this month's groceries. Technically, I'm about $30.00 over where I'd like to be right now, but we are very nicely supplied so it should work out fine.

The only items I'll need to by for the next twenty days are fresh vegetables, maybe a dozen eggs, and a little dairy. We have plenty of pears, apples, and frozen bananas. I stocked up last week (hence the higher bill than anticipated) on grains, beans, maple syrup, nuts, seeds, etc. We are all set on dry goods, and there is venison in the freezer for the once every few days my husband and daughter require some animal protein.

I have a feeling I'll run out of frozen berries and hemp seed, and I'm pretty sure there won't be room in the remaining budget to purchase too many of those. We'll see, nothing catastrophic is going to happen to our bodies if we are a week or two with out our powerfully nutritious berries... we'll be just fine.

These are such random notes and thoughts, probably more for my benefit than yours. It's been a long week, I don't feel terribly organized with my thoughts this morning. My husband is home for the day so I'm going to wrap this up to spend time with him (painting our house... so romantic!)

Chickpea and Sweet Potato Tajine

This fed the three of us plus I was able to freeze a quart for later.

This recipe is based on one that a reader left in the comments of the Crock Pot Post (so many good ideas in there). I've omitted the chicken, added sweet potatoes and used the stove-top. Though you could put all of this in the crock pot just the same.

This recipe works for me on a budget because I already had the spices and dried fruit on hand.

In a large saute pan or wide stock pot, saute the onion in oil for a few minutes, unitl softened. Add garlic and saute one more minute.

Separately, in a large bowl, whisk flour, broth, spices, salt and pepper. Add mixture to the pan along with peeled and diced sweet potato, dried fruit and chick peas. Add canned tomato. Bring to a boil, stirring, then cover and reduce heat to a simmer.

Simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally so the flour does not stick to the bottom. When potaoes are tender, remove the lid and simmer uncovered another 5 minutes to reduce the liquid a bit. This will help to further concentrate the flavors. Adjust salt and pepper if needed.

Serve over whole grain or couscous. Top with fresh parsley.

Next week I'll share the Bean, Sausage and Kale Soup recipe - it's gotten rave, put this one in the recipe box, reviews around here.

Takeaways for me this week have been:

The value of head lettuce.

Looking ahead to the next meal, always.

Think "indulgent" once per week (roasted chicken for us one night), and inexpensive for the other six nights.

One pot meals (like the recipe above) are indeed a wonderful thing.

Hearty salads for lunch with usually some sort of leftover from dinner on top of the grain or bean variety.

Having Adam's lunch prepared the night before is really helpful.

Popcorn for snacking, as always.

I've finally begun saving the almond meal (collecting in the freezer) from making almond milk.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How are things going for you? Do you have any recipes or dollar stretching tips to share? Feel free to link to your blog if you'd like in the comments if you've written a post about your grocery challenge.

October 03, 2011

I'm nervous that it won't work out, and I'm not claiming to have a great formula for success here. But I am willing to try.

For the month of October I will spend no more than $400 on groceries. And you know me, this is going to happen while maintaining our whole foods, mostly plants kitchen. I might be crazy!

This budget includes all consumables with the following exceptions:

Pet Supplies.

Wine/Beer - it's not that much, but it is does cost some money.

Final orchard trip - $100 budgeted separately for that.

I was planning to budget an additional $20 weekly for our farm visits - to stock up, freeze and can for the winter. But on Saturday's trip we learned that our farm is closing early for the season. It hasn't been a great growing season and they've decided to take the time to re-group for next year.

Ordering in or dining out. It's not something we do very often, maybe once or twice a month. We don't have many great restaurants around here so dining out is usually not worth it. But sometimes it's a convenient option and gives the cook a night off (which is of great value).

Today is October 3rd and so far for the month I've spent $83.33. With the 1st of the month falling on a Saturday, and me doing most of the shopping on the weekend, this is not a bad number.

I'm not doing this because I think we spend too much on groceries. Good quality groceries are an investment in our health and support our political beliefs as well.

I'm doing this because I believe that tightening our belts and living as simply as possible makes for smarter/more clever living and is good for the soul too.

In my work, people come to me from all different economic backgrounds. I need to be able to guide a wide variety of budgets on the whole food path.

For me, this month is about feeling a little bit more connected. It's about squeezing as much from the almighty dollar as possible. It's about creativity in the kitchen, from menu planning to dinner prep, to lunch and snack options. It's about saying yes to exotic, lovely foods on occasion, and appreciating the humble simplicity of rice and beans as well.

And in all honesty, with yet another heating season right around the corner, now is as good a time as any to be pinching pennies.

I won't be giving full play by play throughout the month of every little thing we buy, that would be great but I can't imagine having the time to be that detailed. But I will check in with a report each Monday to share an overview of how the week went, what I spent, frugal stand out recipes we enjoyed, and a general synopsis of how dang hard it was or how awesome and creative I feel. Let's hope for the latter!

I spent some time this weekend making a list of what we already have on hand (I'll type up my notes and include that info next Monday, it's quite a list). That was a natural place to start. Next, I made a menu plan and got myself organized mentally for a little extra time in the kitchen. I spend plenty of time in the kitchen already, but a little re-dedication to the act of cooking everything from scratch is a good idea.

The two biggest factors for saving money in the kitchen are menu planning and cooking from scratch. I think both of these are essential.

My family is starting the month with plenty of food on hand which helps me feel confident I can do this. My goal however is not to "live off the pantry" as sometimes people challenge themselves to do (which is really cool too). But rather to move through the pantry and freezer at normal pace and continue to shop and cook with plenty of fresh whole foods - mindfully stretching my creative cooking muscle along the way.

I'm not talking about doing this challenge ramen noodle style. But you guys know that. This is about real food, creatively prepared and planned, on a small budget.

For instance, dinner tonight was going to be Heidi Swanson's Quinoa Patties. I only have a 1/2 cup of quinoa so I've cooked up a pot of short grain brown instead. Sure, it'll be different, but they'll come together just the same.

My basic approach to this is going to include a lovely, somewhat indulgent meal once or twice a week and less expensive, dollar stretching whole food the rest of the time.

Would you like to join me?

I don't have all the answers about how to do this, but I am willing to check in here each Monday and share my week, support you in hearing about your week, and answer any questions that I can.

Does it have to be under $400?

No. I have a family of three. Depending on your family size and your location, your number may be different. The point is to make a significant goal and be up for the challenge. I chose $400 because it is about 1/2 of what I normally spend each month. You can decide what makes sense for your family.

Or, if you prefer to watch from the sidelines, you can just visit here each Monday to cheer on my craziness! That would be lovely too.

For those who would like to join, I've made a button for you! Copy and paste the code below the image into your blog. Visit here each Monday to share how the week went for you. You can either discuss within the comments or leave a link to something you've written on your own blog.

Do I think I could feed my family on $400 a month year round? No way. Not the way we eat, and not in our location. But, I do think it's a good practice to leave a little extra in the bank once in a while, and take the time to appreciate how good we truly have it all the time.